Lucy Letby receives sentence for attempted murder of baby girl

Lucy Letby has been given another whole life order, after being convicted of the attempted murder of a baby girl.

The former neonatal nurse is already serving 14 whole life terms in jail for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder six others at the Countess of Chester Hospital, between the months of June 2015 and June 2016.

At the time of her original conviction, Letby was also acquitted of two counts of attempted murder, and the jury could not reach a verdict on six additional charges.

Last month, a retrial began for one of those charges, concerning the attempted murder of a baby girl identified as Baby K. 

On Tuesday, Letby was found guilty of attempting to kill the "very premature" Baby K by dislodging her breathing tube in the early hours of February 17, 2016 – around 90 minutes after the child’s birth.

During the trial, the prosecution team argued that Letby was caught "virtually red-handed" at the time, when consultant paediatrician Dr Ravi Jayaram walked into the room.

After the infant was resuscitated, her tube was dislodged twice more throughout the night, with the prosecution accusing Letby of trying to make it seem as though Baby K did it herself.

After being born at 25 weeks gestation, Baby K sadly died three days after Letby attempted to end her life. 

Following deliberations for three-and-a-half hours, the jury at Manchester Crown Court found Letby guilty of Baby K’s attempted murder on July 2.

The new conviction means that the former nurse will now be serving 15 whole life orders in prison. She will spend the rest of her life behind bars.

Letby has always denied the charges against her. In May of this year, she lost her appeal bid to challenge her convictions.